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Morningstar Reports U.S. Mutual Fund And ETF Asset Flows For August 2018

PR Newswire

CHICAGO, Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset flows for August 2018. In August, investors placed $13.0 billion into passive U.S. equity funds, compared with outflows of $14.1 billion in the previous month. On the active front, investors pulled $14.4 billion, compared with $11.2 billion of outflows as reported last month. Morningstar estimates net flow for mutual funds by computing the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund and net flow for ETFs by computing the change in shares outstanding.

Long-term flows to U.S. open-end and exchange-traded funds dipped to an estimated $22.2 billion in August 2018 following July's $32.1 billion. Taxable-bond funds continue as the leading category group in August with $19.1 billion in inflows, although this was down from July's $25.2 billion.

Within Morningstar categories, ultrashort-bond was the most popular with $9.7 billion in inflows, the category's greatest inflows in at least a decade. The large-value category was the least popular, with approximately $2.3 billion in outflows.

Among top U.S. fund families, iShares posted the greatest inflows, with $15.8 billion. Other firms with top inflows include Vanguard and J.P. Morgan, with $8.0 billion and $4.3 billion, respectively. State Street Global Advisors saw approximately $8.2 billion in outflows in August, more than double any other firm. Behind State Street, Harbor, Franklin Templeton, and Columbia saw the highest outflows with $2.9, $2.2, and $1.7 billion, respectively. Each saw notable outflows from their active strategies with minimal cushioning from passive offerings.

Among all U.S. open-end mutual funds and ETFs, Bridge Builder Core Plus Bond saw the most inflows of all active strategies at $1.6 billion. Harbor International, with a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Bronze, saw $2.6 billion in outflows, more than any other active fund.

Fidelity's newly launched zero-fee funds had their first full month of flows data. Fidelity Zero Total Market Index and Fidelity Zero International Index had inflows of $754.0 and $234.0 million, respectively.